The camera work is impressive, his sense of humor sharp, and the characters are well defined. The story leaves something to be desired, but that doesn't mean you won't find situations or lines to enjoy in the comedy. [20 Oct 2006, p.G15]
Banned for many years in director/cowriter Alfonso Cuaron's native Mexico, his debut feature is a bawdy comedy that pivots on the comeuppance of a serial philanderer.
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The women are all beautiful; and the camerawork - by Emmanuel Lubezki, who shot Terrence Malick's spectacular "The New World" - is eye-pleasing.
Without trivializing the disease, the film challenges AIDS' stigma (albeit for heterosexuals) at a moment when it was still considered a death sentence.
63
Slant MagazineEd Gonzalez
Slant MagazineEd Gonzalez
This sexy, often funny comedy about AIDS is missing one important thing: a crucial sense of danger.
Mr. Cuarón never quite finds the tone that would allow him to fuse belly laughs with the horror of illness and death, but then perhaps Pedro Almodóvar is the only filmmaker able to mix darkness and light in that way. Still it is hard not to admire the younger man's cheeky self-confidence, and hard not to enjoy the dexterity of his camera movements and the flair with which he attempts both low comedy and high melodrama.
40
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
The film is more stale than crisp, with dialogue that is at least 50 percent old aphorisms, homilies, and clichés.